India, Pakistan need to talk to resolve Kashmir: Erdogan

Islamabad, (IANS) Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday said here that increasing tension between Pakistan and India over Kashmir could no longer be ignored and the two needed to find a solution through dialogue keeping in mind the “demands” of the people of Jammu and Kashmir.

“Increasing number of problems and tension along the Line of Control (LoC) are having a significant impact on our brothers and sisters in Kashmir and have come to a point where we can no longer ignore them,” the visiting Turkish President said, addressing a joint press conference with Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

The Turkish President said a close eye was being kept “on tensions along LoC and loss of life there”.

He said a solution to the vexed Kashmir issue can be found through dialogue between Pakistan and India and “keeping in mind UN resolutions and demands of brothers and sisters in Kashmir”.

“Pakistan and Turkey have always been side by side in testing times,” Erdogan said.

He also emphasized that the tripartite agreement and mechanism of peace between Pakistan, Turkey and Afghanistan also needed to be revived.

Erdogan arrived in Islamabad on Wednesday, on a two-day visit – his first to Pakistan since the failed military coup earlier this year.